Category Archives: Civil rights and libertiy

When something like this happened, I am become completely numb about shootings like this, it’s just another shooting in america. This one is no deferent at first, Sunday morning I was checking my twitter. I saw there have been another shooting in orlando. Not again I said to my self, This is like deja vu because there is one Friday night, But as I read the twits, the news: I said to my self WOW this is unbelievable. 50 people are dead Wow, What is unsettling is who the victims are. This is in a gay club. Wow

The question always when this happen is Why? This is a hate crime, this person wants to bring fear to the gay community. His father said he hated gays kissing. This is one of the effects of radical religious believe, even if its not direct. People need to stop defending islam.

I hate when people say: Oh its there culture blah blah blah. You mean it’s there culture to kill innocent people because they do not agree with their “LIFESTYLE”. I hate this so much, this well meaning people, this are liberal progressive people. I know muslims have a bad wrap in america, but duh….

Do not get me started on the gun issue, Here we go again, America, after the Sandy Hook shootings which killed young kids, I thought the lesson had been learned. We need it, but as we all know the NRA will not be happy. What we need is what Bernie Sanders advocates for, A POLITICAL REVOLUTION. To people who say the we can not do it because gun control, Republicans do not want it, excuse me, people who identify as Republicans, I mean your run of a mill republicans want gun control.

The problem is the Democratic Party, Who does not know how to promote shit (sorry for the vulgar language). I can not believe after Sandy Hook and 90 percent of Americans support gun control. After only one try they gave up. What the heck! If I were the democrats I would say to the electorate look at the republicans, they do not represent you, and I will start from there.

Finally, This is very sad because first this month is LGBT pride month and it should be a fun occasion but secondly this hits so close to home, I never had spoken about this before on this blog but I am Bisexual. People need to come out because if they do it will help the send a message that we are who we and are no one can stop us.

This month North Carolina overwhelmingly passed a bill that prevents any city from passing a law that protects LGBT people, Transgender people are the most affected the law, and that they are being ban from going to their of bathroom of preferred gender. The gay community is obviously very outrage and sadden by this backwards bill.

There has been a lot of backlash, boycotts had been called. People had been very angry and mad. Ringo Starr and Bruce Springsteen had said that they are boycotting, they are are not going to play in North Carolina. Boycotts are a waste of time, I sed to love boycotts but after I listen to Academy award winner screenwriter Dustin Lance Black give a speech I change my mind.

Do not get me wrong what happen in North Carolina really is a set back for the transgender community. And we should support ever effort to repel that amendment. Boycotting will just make it worse. because it shows the people who do not want equality that the gay community and its supporters are authoritarians. And that the gay community wants to ban their religion and it is not good.

The gay community need to accept that the fact this is the law of the land in North Carolina. What we should do is we should do what the fight for marriage equality is very successful in doing. They gay community should fill a law suit and battle it out in the court and may the best argument wins. I know for a fact we will win. because this strategist worked.

The problem after the US has gotten marriage the gay groups become lazy. As if they do not want to finish the job that they started interns of the Non Discrimination laws and The Transgender Bathroom Bill. We should finish what we started.

The LGBT community should wake up because people are still suffering in many parts of the US. Finally I want to literate that marriage is not the end of all the problems. The gay community needs to be able to fix themselves.

As we probably know this is the final season of American Idol, this is making me sad because idol had been there since 2001. I have been watching religiously for the show since 2006. it seem like my childhood is officially ending. i am now 23 years so american idol had been on air for more than half of my life.

The show is a prefect example of chasing the american dream, an american dream that dwindled during the show’s heyday due to the great resection.

The show was the first ‘adult show’ (not children oriented show) I remembered watching and was drawn to. I remembered watching the 3rd season when Fantasia Barino was on with two other ladies one of them was Filipino American Jasmin Trias and as a Filipino myself I supported her. I have plenty of memories watching the show, that i am going to miss. I am going to miss the auditions, hollywood week and just the talent specially this last few seasons.

My favorite season of American Idol is the eighth season of the show: that is when Adam Lambert was on the show. When I first saw him he was already my favorite, boy did he delivered. Adam owned the stage from the time he was on the show. He thought me that it is okey to be deferent. When he lost i cried (literally) two weeks later he came out as gay. and as a sixteen catholic kid I understood what being gay meant. I am now a vocal supporter of gay rights.

A one of the Beatles George Harrison said in his 1970 song All Things Must Pass. American Idol time has pass. All we are left with is the memories. I will miss you American idol. You guys rock!

Last week while I am on hiatus, the Filipino pride Manny Pacquiao said that gay people are worst than animals because animals know to have sex with just the opposite gender. Obviously this does not went well with the gay community in the Philippines and around the world. His sponsor Nike had pulled out.

First of all I want to say this the Philippines have laws protecting free speech. He has a right to say his opinion. He has a right to say that in a private conference. The Philippines like America has freedom of religion. He can believe what he wants even if he is a public official, look at Ted Cruz.

If you ask me, of course I do condone what he said from the bottom of my heart. But the thing is we should support free speech no matter what. Free speech is not only for people whom you agree with, it is also for the people that you do not. There is a Supreme Court. case it came from Ohio, were in the KKK wanted to do a protest rally on a Jewish town. The Supreme Court said that the police has no right to arrest them unless there is an eminent threat of danger. So even the KKK had a right to say what they want.

Of course his argument is wrong, there are plenty of gay animals. In fact there a hundred plus animals that exhibit homosexual behavior, Including Rams, lions, dolphins, bonobos and penguins. I can not get over why people do not call him on that. Not the “gay rights is a Human rights” (bla bla bla). Of course gay rights is human rights what are you talking about. But how can you change people’s hearts if you are not fighting them on the issues, right?

Lastly, Manny Pacquiao has just been a victim of a fundamentalist religion and that we should pity him for not using his mind and he is barely a high school graduate. Finally, I want liberals to write about free speech for those they do not agree with.

Joaquin Tenedora-Forte December 11, 2015
On the morning of Friday December 14, 2012, was a regular day for people in Newtowm CT, It was nearing the weekend and parents want to go out with their young kids. But at around 9 am in the morning the world was shock when a shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school, happened a shooter (we should not utter the name) killed twenty 1st and 2nd graders and six educators that faithful day. The world was stunned in disbelief. How did America deal with such a tragic day. More importantly what did Americans learn from that day.

In the days presiding that Newtown shooting the National Raffle Association (NRA) said in a press conference that a good guy with a gun will stop a bad guy with a gun, perfectly reasonable right? But No, the problem with that is it simply does not work. Guns make people feel as If they have power over other people, so that is bad and empirically is wrong, the most conservative states, have more gun violence. I am not here to take your guns away, because I do not think that it is possible,. 300 million guns how are you going to get rid of all those guns. So here is my gun policy proposals and it is very vanilla., note I like what said I am not trying to get your guns.

1. Ban high capacity magazine- High capacity magazines is bad for obvious reasons because you can go on without even reloading.

2. Ban Machine guns- who need a machine gun, a machine gun is for war zones not at your house to defend yourselves form bad persons

3. Mental Health background checks- background checks can prevent another Sandy Hook, checking the persons for depression or something else is very reasonable.

Lastly, there are tens of thousands of people die every year in America, so we need gun control and gun background checks. Finally, We need to remember people who died due to lack of gun control.

I was watching CNN’s Anderson Cooper show on Tuesday night and there is one story that resonated with me. It is about a little girl with a rare life threatening disorder, and if she got a cold will definitely kill her. Her parents ask her if the four year old girl wants to go to heaven or the hospital. Her response was she wants to go to heaven. The parents decision to let her choose though is very controversial because of the age of their daughter.

In 2014, a young woman named Britney Maynard contracted a inoperable malignant brain tumor. And her doctors told her that her condition will worsen to the point that will affect her quality of life. She opted for the right to die. But there is a problem there is no law in the state of California, there is no doctor assisted suicide. She moved to Oregon where there is such laws. Months after her death, her home state of California passed a law that will give people the right to die.

As you probably know about me is that I believe in secular humanism, so I often side with the progressives. I am for marriage equality and a lot of liberal values. There are only one or two topics that I am conflicted on. This is one of those topics because I believe that a person has a right to choose their paths. But I also believe that a person lives is so precious, and that it is unnatural to end your own life.

In the case of that young girl. I would say thIs she is way too young to even go to school. She is unable to decide whether or not to die. Kids can pick up parents cues, when the parents secretly wants the kid to go, the kid will say that she wants to go.

In the case of Britney Maynard, she is at the legal age, she can decide and is very sick that she will die in the next months anyway. So she should be able to do physician assisted suicide.

Finally, I believe in a limited government involvement, and there is no topic that is more intimate than choosing whether or not to die in the face of.a horrible situation. Lastly I would say that we should regulate this issue.

Joaquin Tenedora-Forte November 4, 2015
In the decision by the United States Supreme Court last June that states that marriage is a fundamental human right. The decision meant that a family with same sex parents will not be look down by the government. It also meant that gay people will have a good family life, so what are the effects if any: positive or negative to their children.

In the history of studying this subject from the 1980’s till this day, there have been three stages of studies. In the 1980’s, the impacts are negative, they said that gay people adopting children will lead to all of the societal ills. To the 90’s where in the scientific community is divided. To today that they are in perfect agreement, that the modern family is good for children.

In a consolidation analysis done by Northwestern University that states that gay parents are no more loving and caring than a traditional family. Furthermore the researchers say that there are some advantages to LGBT parenting like empathy for others because of the prejudices towards them. And the rejections of gender norms, because in a same sex household there is no man and woman, there are only parents.

According to the same study kids that are raise by lesbians did the best on all this test, empathy, higher grades in school and more. The theory is that two woman raising children are better because women are more caring and loving, and that lesbians are more likely to not cheat on their spouses. We all know that kids do well if the parents stay together.

Lastly, it is not about the plumbing but the love that they have for their kids. The love that a parents have for their son or daughter is unconditional. Finally 99 percent of gay people need to plan to have children, either thru adoption or thru IVF so as a result they will love and cherish the kids that they have

After the Supreme Court’s historic ruling on marriage equality last June, the phrase “You can get gay married on Sunday and get gay fired on Monday” become more popular. This is very sad but true in 30 or more states because of the Supreme Court ruling you are allowed to get married but get Fired the very next day.

According to the 14th amendment section II the equal protection clause, states that you have equal rights. Granting that when they write the provision the ratifiers are not thinking of gay people. But the constitution is a living document it evolves with the times. According, to one poll, 70 percent of Americans thinks that discrimination against gay people is unlawful, but in reality it is far from the truth.

The opponents of a federal non discrimination bill often states the religious freedom clause of the constitution i.e the first amendment. The fact is that Christians are not an oppressed group of people. Like in Indiana, there is a law that pass this year the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The law is a slippery slope though because the bible can also be use to discriminate on everything not just gay people,

Marriage is not the end of the fight for equal rights for the LGBTQ community in America. There are a lot still to be done, like employment and housing non discrimination bill. In most states there are still no laws banning discrimination against LGBT people. Transgender people can not still be included in the military. (Trans folks can also serve in the military). Is that equality?

Finally, discrimination is bad and wrong. We should not discriminate against people base on an innate trait that we can not change. People are gay as they are straight. We should not deny people human rights. Lastly we have the inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It should not be deny.

Hi, my name is Joaquin, I am 22 years old. I am currently studying Bachelor of Arts, majoring in media studies, so I watch the news all the time. I would not lie to you I am very disappointed on how you tackle the issue of the death penalty. I thought that you are pro life, why do you still have the death penalty in place. Is that what Jesus teaches.

In the constitution the eighth amendment states cruel and unusual punishment Should not be inflected. Is it cruel that people need to suffer for an agonizing hour before they eventually die. It is unusual that America is the only modern country on earth that still has the death penalty. Is that what God wants.

You should be consistent, if you are pro life, you should be opposed to the death penalty. You are mostly Christian and your politics is base on the “Christian faith”. What Jesus said is not what you do. Are you only for Christian teachings if it’s convenient on your part.

What if I tell you that not all people in death row are guilty. You don’t know whether or they are guilty. In fact eight percent of the total inmate population may not be in the crime scene at all. What will you tell the families of people who have died because of wrongful convictions. Do you really think that they did wrongful action if they did not.

Criminal justice system is not a perfect science so you should be very careful on convicting people. You are ruining their lives. Please do reply.

There are no more controversial topics than the issue of the nature of homosexuality. But one thing is for certain sexuality is innate and natural, shutting down the idea by the psychologist Freud, that the sexuality is caused by nurture, the idea that gay men grow up having overbearing mothers and distant fathers, is absurd now to say the least.

No more than eight to ten percent of the population are gay, such a small number that since gay people do not bare their own children (until recently), research shows that gay people exist cross culturally, no matter what race or class. In this Article i will be talking about gay males. in my article next week I will be looking on what makes lesbians.

The more older brothers the boy have the more likelihood that he will be homosexual or bisexual. According to Michael Bailey an American psychology professor. It’s a big contrast on how people perceive that issue, in the past they thought that being gay is cause by playing with girls, more prominently the Sisters. When a mother have a son her body is allergic to the XY chromosome, and when she have multiple sons her body becomes much more relaxed therefore giving birth to a much feminine son.

There is one study about on epigenetics that states homosexuality is cause by a Genetic mutation that makes people to be gay. For example, a person has a sibling or cousin that is gay and then have a son who is not gay there for his grandson have a much bigger likelihood to be gay. There for being gay is innate.

One study on identical twins shows if one twin is gay the other one have a 75 percent chance of being gay. It is a strong suggestion that being gay is genetic and innate. In the older brother effect theory if the older brother is a half brother with the father, like the general population of people they have a two percent chance of being gay.

The significance of the studies is that it disproved many people who say that homosexuality is a learn behavior and could be change. And therefore should not be afforded the same rights like marriage and non discrimination. But Religion is a choice and that we do not discriminate base on religious beliefs.

Lastly, being gay is not a choice. People who say that being gay is choice are gay who are repressing their feelings. Finally, being gay is a normal and natural human behavior.